Star Wars Legend ‘Ben Burtt’ To Receive An Honor By Locarno Film Festival

Ben Burtt, the visionary sound designer famous for creating R2-D2’s vocalization, lightsaber sound, as well as the voice of Wall-E, will be awarded the Vision Award TicinoModa at Locarno Film Festival, granted to individuals who enriched the existing concept sound design: editing and mixing. 

Burtt is 12 times nominated and is a four-time Oscar winner for sound design on the original Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Further, Oscar wins for sound effects & editing for E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial.

The Creative Sounds Of Star Wars

The credibility of Ben Burtt’s sounds for the beloved Saga has also inspired thousands of his and future generations. 

The Locarno festival will honor Ben on the occasion of the festival's 77th edition. The other well-known but still other iconic sounds include ‘E.T phone home’, a raspy voice from a chain-smoker Burtt who discovered it in a coffee shop, Chewbacca screams, which are a combination of several animal howls including a bear, a walrus and a lion and last but not least Darth Vader’s heavy and mechanical breathing which Burtt made himself using his voice during scuba diving.

The son of Burtt, Benjamin A. Burtt, and Steve Boeddeker were nominated for the Oscar for sound editing on Marvel’s Black Panther. 

Burtt also served as film editor on George Lucas’s Star Wars Prequel Trilogy and directed documentaries like Blue Planet and Destiny in Space. 

Locarno Festival artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro stated, “The list of his innovations is practically endless.” He added, "For the sound of spaceship doors opening and closing, the Burtt uses the Philadelphia subway doors’ sound. ” Nazzaro concluded by saying, “Ben Burtt is a pioneer and visionary who has fundamentally changed how we perceive sound in cinema.”

His honor is wholly earned and justified, and it’s fair to say that Star Wars would not have been complete without his contribution.

May the Force be with you!